


A Gift of Time

by TheEclecticSoul



Series: A Gift of Blood [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-08-25 00:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16650442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEclecticSoul/pseuds/TheEclecticSoul
Summary: Holy shit, mini-Peter wasfucking adorable. Tony seriously wanted to just cuddle the kid, maybe kiss his cheeks,definitelyspoil him.orIn which Peter gets de-aged for two weeks, and Tony gets to be a dad.





	1. Chapter 1

The thud made May jump and she quickly went to Peter’s room. The teen was on the floor with the Spider-Man mask still on, staring blankly up the ceiling.

“Peter?” May called out worriedly.

“Ow,” Peter replied and raised a hand. “Hi May.”

“Are you okay, sweetie?” May asked, looking at Peter on the ground.

“Think so, just, uh, just a weirdly-dressed dude hitting me with sparkles.” Peter yanked his mask off, squinting at his light. “Lost him because of the lights. Not going to lie, though, I kind of feel funny.”

“Funny-I-should-call-Tony or funny-I’m-going-to-puke?”

“Um…” Peter tilted his head slightly as he considered his predicament. “Funny-a-nap-would- _really_ -help.” May just laughed at that.

“Well, then, hit the showers first, you smell terrible,” she said. “You have school and I have work. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yup. G’night, May.”

Neither of them gave another thought of ‘the dude with sparkles’, May going straight to bed while Peter showered before going to sleep. She was more than a little surprised when Peter was still in bed the next morning.

“Peter?” she called out, knocking on his door. A quiet whimper answered and May opened the door.

She froze.

“ _Oh my god, Peter!_ ”

.

.

.

Tony was in the middle of having his coffee with Pepper when his phone rang. Spotting it was from May he swiped and put it on speaker.

“Hi, May, what’s—”

“Tony, get your a— _butt_ down here _right now!_ ” May screeched into the phone, panic lacing her voice. Without even thinking Tony shot out of his seat and towards the patio, already getting his suit ready. “And have Pepper come with the car!” He paused at that, raising an eyebrow as he turned to give a confused look at an equally confused Pepper.

“May, what’s—”

“Just get over here now! Door’s unlocked for you!” 

“Just go,” Pepper said, waving at Tony. “I’ll get Happy to drive me over.” Tony nodded before his suit formed around him, and he took off towards Queens. Worry gnawed at him, wondering what could have set May off like this.

He landed on the roof and quickly walked towards the door, suit melting away.

 

(Oh, how he wanted to run, but the neighbors were still there and running would cause attention.)

 

“May, what’s going on?” Tony finally managed to ask as he walked into the apartment.

“Tony!” a tiny voice cried and Tony froze as a tiny teary Peter, held by May, waved his arms towards Tony. “’M sorry, Tony, I din’ mean to!” May walked over and Peter practically threw himself into Tony’s arms, crying and apologizing into his neck.

“What the fuck?” Tony said then cringed at the glare May gave him. “I mean, uh, heck?”

“I have no idea, and neither does Peter,” she bit out. “I woke up to him like this.” May wrung her hands with a worried expression.

“’M sorry, Tony, I don’ know what happen,” Peter whimpered out as he pulled away from the crook of Tony’s neck. “I wake up an’ I’m like this.”

“It’s okay, kid, we, uh, we can figure this out,” Tony quickly reassured. Peter’s teary eyes and red face nearly made the man pull him back into his arms and cuddle him.

“But schoo’! An’ work!” Peter exclaimed, looking at May.

“I called him out sick for today and tomorrow, but I can’t keep him out indefinitely,” May explained, “and I can’t take off work, I’m working doubles this week, and— oh _shoot_ , I’m going to be late!”

“Happy will take you,” Tony automatically said, running his hand through Peter’s hair and smiling down at the kid in his arm. Peter sniffled but wasn’t crying anymore, turning to hug Tony around the neck. “I can keep an eye on the kid. I’ll have Helen run a scan, see what we can do.”

“It was the sparkle man,” Peter said, his voice muffled. He pulled back, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands and looking miserable.

 

(Holy shit, mini-Peter was _fucking adorable_. Tony seriously wanted to just cuddle the kid, maybe kiss his cheeks, _definitely_ spoil him.)

 

“May?” Pepper called out as she entered the apartment with a worried look. “What’s goin—”

“Mommy!” Peter cried out, waving his arms towards her for a hug. Tony blinked, Pepper froze, and May nearly died holding back her laughter, judging by the loud snort she gave. Peter blinked then his face went red and he looked down. “’M sorry, Peppa, I din’ mean to say that.”

“I kind of liked that, honestly,” Tony said, a grin slowly forming.

“You would,” May choked out between fits of giggles. “Shi— _oot_ , I have to get to work.”

“Right, uh,” Tony stuttered and let Peter down when the boy squirmed in his arms. Peter quickly ran into his room and came right back with his Spider-Man suit, along with an old stuffed gray owl that looked like it had seen better days.

“Is that Hedwig?” May asked, a laughing tone in her voice. Peter hugged the owl closer and Tony grinned at just how absolutely fucking adorable Peter was being as he took the Spider-Man suit. “Okay, be good to Tony and Pepper, okay?” Peter nodded, letting the engineer scoop him up as Pepper took the Spider-Man suit from him, hiding it in a bag.

“Thanks for taking me to work,” May quickly said as they left the apartment and she locked the door. “And, uh, taking care of Peter. I don’t have anything for him though, do you mind if—”

“Nope, don’t mind at all,” Tony interrupted, grinning as he pressed a kiss against Peter’s cheek. The boy giggled at that, turning to give Tony a kiss on the cheek. May blinked then gave Pepper a worried expression. Pepper just sighed.

“I will do my best to reign him in,” Pepper promised although she looked just as worried.

\------------------------------

The look of intense concentration on a four-year-old’s face was, suffice to say, _fucking adorable_.

 

(God _damn it_ , he was a genius, there were other words to describe Peter other than _fucking adorable_ , but everything mini-Peter did the only words Tony could think of was _fucking adorable_.

Where did Peter even get the _fucking adorable_ genes? It had to be from Mary, Tony Stark did not do _fucking adorable_.)

 

(Pepper would beg to differ – Tony had his _fucking adorable_ moments. It usually happened when he pouted, and judging by the way Peter pouted, Peter had inherited his father’s _fucking adorable_ genes.)

 

The current situation was Peter trying to find the best pajama to wear. He was stuck between the Iron Man one, the Hulk one and the Hawkeye one, the last one most likely due to the events a few months ago.

“Peter, kid, I can buy you all three,” Tony reminded in amusement.

“Tony,” Pepper started with a warning tone. Tony ignored it.

“Jus’ need one,” Peter replied with a frown. “Not stayin’ young fo’ long.”

“Well, it might take a while until we find a way to turn you back to normal.” Peter’s face changed to a hesitant expression and Tony pressed the opportunity. “Besides, I’m sure if you got the Iron Man PJs, Hulk and Hawkeye would get lonely.”

“ _Tony_ ,” Pepper growled. Tony ignored it.

“War Machine, too?” Peter asked, eyeing the War Machine PJs.

“War Machine too,” Tony agreed, grabbing all four. Pepper sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. Peter still looked hesitant, but _want_ seem to be winning out. “Uncle Rhodey will be happy if you showed him the War Machine PJs.”

“Okay!” Peter said with a _fucking adorable_ smile.

“Great, now let’s you some clothes.” More Team Iron Man shirts were chosen, along with some Hulk and Hawkeye theme shirts, and soon Tony was striding out of the store with Peter in one arm and a few bags in the other. Pepper and Happy trailed after them, the latter with a few more bags in his arms and looking more than a little annoyed. 

Peter was chattering happily to Tony then suddenly stopped, eyes glued to something. The three adults looked over to what caught the kid’s attention.

There, before them, stood the Legos Store.

“Oh _no_ ,” Pepper said faintly, a hand rubbing her forehead.

“Oh _yes_ ,” Tony said gleefully and gave Peter a kiss on the cheek, earning a giggle.

“Oh boy,” Happy said with a sigh and rolled his eyes.

.

.

.

The funny thing about four-year-old Peter Parker was the fact that he had absolutely _no willpower_ whatsoever. When teenage Peter was around he always held himself back.

 

(“Peter, I’m a billionaire, I’m sure I can buy you all the Haagen-Daaz Mint Chip you want.”

“Um, I’m fine with just a pint of Beyer’s.” Tony rolled his eyes, both for Peter’s frugalness and his questionable taste in ice-cream.)

 

Four-year-old Peter, on the other hand, had no problem saying what he wanted. When he got it though, Peter would realize what he had done and begin to apologize.

And, _damn it_ , it was one of the most _fucking adorable_ things Tony had seen.

 

(“Do we _really_ have to figure out how to turn him back to normal?” Tony asked as he pulled Pepper aside, watching the kid happily play with his Legos. “He’s way too cute like this. Can we just, you know, tell May we couldn’t find the cure?”

“No, Tony,” Pepper replied, rolling her eyes, “but you’re allowed to spoil him rotten before we turn him back to normal.” 

She realized in that moment it was the wrong thing to say to Tony, taking in his delighted grin.

“Oh _no_ ,” Pepper said, horrified and aiming to stop Tony.

“Oh _yes_ ,” Tony said, intent on spoiling his son like crazy during his second childhood.

“Oh boy!” Peter chirped, oblivious to the two adults as he finished the first X-Wing Lego set.)

 

Eventually Pepper managed to chase Tony away from Peter and down to his lab long enough to review footage from last night. With a heavy sigh Tony pulled up the video and began to watch. It was when the strange dark-skinned man in weird clothing showed up that Tony paused the video.

“FRIDAY, run facial scans,” Tony ordered, absently picking up a screwdriver and twirling it around.

“Yes Boss.” Tony pulled up another display, smiling as he watched Peter building another X-Wing.

And then Peter looked up just as FRIDAY announced “Intruder Alert.” Tony shot out of his seat and raced towards the elevator, gauntlets primed and ready while swearing up a storm. The moment the doors opened Tony barreled into the common room, hands out and searching the room.

Peter was in the arms of a weirdly-dressed man who had a damn good-looking goatee and surrounded by glowing lights.

“Get your hands off my kid,” Tony snarled, hands up and repulsors whining in his ears. Peter turned to look at Tony, his eyes huge while the stranger just hummed.

“Well, save your medical tests, Stark, your kid is stuck like this for a couple weeks,” the stranger intoned, raising an eyebrow as Peter squirmed in his arm, the glowing lights disappearing.

“Don’ hurt ‘im, Tony,” Peter blurted out. “He good person.”

“Yeah, well, I’d feel a lot better if you’d come over here _right now_ , Peter,” Tony growled. Peter looked scared and turned to look at the stranger.

“Sorry,” he whispered and the stranger’s lips quirked upward slightly as he let Peter down.

“Well, now that’s done, I’ll be on my way,” the stranger said as Peter toddled quickly over to Tony. Tony scooped up Peter, one hand still trained on the stranger before uttering a curse as a portal appeared. “I apologize for getting your boy mixed up in my business.”

And then the stranger stepped through the portal and disappeared.

Tony blinked, shared a look with Peter then looked back at the space where the stranger was.

“Right, so.” Tony let out a sight as the repulsor whined down. “How are we going to explain your disappearance for the next two weeks?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Blanket fort,” he said with a serious tone. “Tony, we make a blanket fort.”
> 
> “Why do we want to make a blanket fort?” Tony asked with amused curiosity.
> 
> “Because blanket forts are _awesome_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, 'tis that time of the year where holidays come crashing into real life.
> 
> Edit 12/7/2018 - Added some more text, it wasn't sitting right with me while writing the next chapter.

As it turns out, there were a few minor issues with four-year-old Peter.

First issue was that Peter still had his spider-powers, which had Peter breathe a sigh of relief. Tony and Peter tested it out quickly to confirm, and, holy shit, was it terrifying to see a tiny three-foot tall kid holding a giant 300-pound couch over his head.

 

(“Let’s not do that ever again,” Tony said in a strained voice, and Peter tilted his head slightly in puzzlement.

“’Cause you have a Roomba so you don’ need t’ sweep underneath?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, sure, let’s go with that.”)

 

Another issue they quickly discovered that night, much to Peter’s mortification and to both Tony and Pepper’s amusement, and that was the fact that he became picky with food. Teenage Peter could eat anything and everything, but he enjoyed Thai and Indian food the most.

Except four-year-old Peter couldn’t eat his favorites because they were too spicy or too bitter.

 

(“Oh _no_ ,” Peter groaned, tears welling up in his eyes.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Pepper quickly reassured.

“But-but-but they my fav’ites an’ I can’t eat them no more!” Peter whined, covering his face with his hands. “’M so sorry, ‘s my fault.”

“Not your fault that little kid taste buds aren’t advanced,” Tony answered with a shrug.)

 

The final issue was more hilarious and _fucking adorable_ – four-year-old Peter was borderline narcoleptic. It really shouldn’t have surprised Tony and Pepper, seeing as Peter woke up at the crack ass of dawn the next morning. He was so cheerful, playing with his Legos as Pepper got ready for work and Tony prepared breakfast, confirming with May to meet for lunch.

Tony nearly died laughing in his lab when FRIDAY buzzed his cellphone before eleven to show a picture of Peter half-standing, half-laying on the sofa and dead asleep.

 

(“How is he doing that? Why hasn’t he fallen over?” Tony wheezed out. “Is it his spider powers? It has to be his spider powers. Tell me you sent this to Pepper and May.”

“Of course, Boss.” Tony continued to chortle at the image.)

 

Yep, looks like Peter is going to have mandatory nap times for the next two weeks.

Over lunch with May, it was decided that teenage Peter would be out for a couple weeks for SI business – something about a conference and workshop. It was also decided that Peter would be going out with Tony and Pepper to California as May couldn’t take care of Peter with her work at the hospital.

“I’m so sorry about this,” May said, wringing her hands. Tony shook his head, leaning back to look down. Peter was seated on his lap, completely focused on a 12-faced Rubik’s cube in hand. The look of pure concentration on Peter’s face made Tony smile.

“Don’t be, this is going to be great,” Tony replied, absently running his hand through Peter’s hair. May squinted at him before an amused smile crossed her lips.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” May asked. Tony shrugged and her smile widened. “Fine. Shoo. You and Pepper, go be parents for a couple weeks.” Peter looked up, a worried expression on his face.

“Are you goin’ t’ be okay, May?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine, honey,” May replied and kissed the top of his head. “If you want, you can Skype me. Tony knows my schedule, right?”

“Yup,” Tony replied. Peter just gave May a worried look before nodding slowly. He suddenly brightened and Peter looked up at Tony, showing the solved Rubik’s cube.

“Daddy, look!” Peter crowed, beaming up at him and Tony’s heart skipped a beat.

Yeah, Tony was definitely going to enjoy the next two weeks.

.

.

They got everything ready for their trip tomorrow morning, and Tony nearly laughed as Peter dragged in two bags that mostly contained his Lego sets.

 

(“Peter. Kid. No,” Tony said, shaking his head. “You can take one bag of Legos, the other bag is for clothes.”

“ _Tony!_ ” Pepper hissed, turning to glare at him as Peter pouted.

“I can buy him more Legos in California?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. Pepper sighed.

“ _Fine._ One bag of clothes, one bag of Legos,” she agreed.

“Good. Now Peter…”)

 

At least Peter was excited.

Or so Tony thought when he woke the moment the bedroom door opened, blinking sleepily as Peter peeked in, hair messy and Hedwig in his arms.

“Peter?” Tony called out softly. “What’s wrong, kid?” Peter squeezed Hedwig and padded over to Tony, reaching out a hand to take hold of Tony’s own. 

“I had a bad dream,” he said quietly with a sniffle. Tony blinked at him then shifted slightly.

“Want to join us?” Tony asked and Peter nodded. He climbed up and Tony shifted Peter between him and Pepper. Pepper opened an eye and reached out to pat Peter’s head, and Peter snuggled up a little closer to her.

“’M sorry,” Peter whispered.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Pepper replied with a smile. Tony pressed a kiss against the back of Peter’s head, watching as Peter rubbed his drooping eyes.

“Nigh-nigh, mommy, daddy,” Peter mumbled out.

Tony’s heart leapt and he pressed another kiss on Peter’s head. Pepper also pressed a kiss against Peter’s forehead then glared at Tony.

“What?” Tony asked warily.

“This is all _your_ fault,” Pepper said quietly without any heat, “because now _I_ want to spoil Peter rotten.” Tony just grinned at that.

.

.

.

Peter got sick on their second day in California. It was probably the change in weather or something, but Peter was miserable with a fever. Neither Tony or Peter had thought he could get sick due to the spider-bite. Good to know that was still a thing.

Of course, being who he was, Peter apologized for being sick and became clingier than usual.

Pepper had to go into SI Headquarters in the morning, though she shot worried looks at Peter, the four-year-old seated on Tony’s lap and latched on, face buried against Tony’s chest as Tony sipped his coffee.

“Don’t forget to feed him, Tony,” Pepper said. “Light food, nothing heavy, we don’t want him to vomit.”

“Proje— _Project_ —Puking is bad,” Peter mumbled into Tony’s chest and Tony chuckled, running his fingers through Peter’s hair.

“No problem, Pep,” Tony assured her. She just gave Tony another worried look before leaving. He gave Peter a triple dose of Children’s Tylenol, fed Peter some toast and put him down to sleep.

Except Peter didn’t want him to leave.

“Stay?” Peter asked, pouting.

“Kid, I have work,” Tony replied though pouting Peter is _fucking adorable_. “Just go to sleep and you’ll feel better. Look, Hedwig’s here.” Peter accepted the plushie but continued to pout, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Tony could feel himself slowly breaking.

“Stay, daddy?” Peter asked again, this time with a sniffle. “Please?”

_Oh god damn it, why are you so fucking adorable, Peter?_

“Okay, okay, kiddo,” Tony answered with a sigh. “Just let me get my tablet.” Peter smiled and soon, Tony found himself lying in bed with Peter cuddled against his side asleep. He could sneak out now and Peter wouldn’t know, except the kid still had sticky hands and super-strength.

And really, Tony was comfortable lying there as he drew up new security systems, thinking of new upgrades for the suits – his, Peter’s and Rhodey’s – and doing his best to _not_ think about the revised Accords. Ross was breathing down his neck to sign the new one, and honestly Tony didn’t _want_ to sign. 

Some of the revisions actually worked against what was left of the Avengers – Tony was pretty sure those shit revisions were from Ross. He was a little surprised when King T’Challa pulled out of the Accords, but with a little digging, figured out he had something to do with St— _Rogers_ and his merry band of misfits.

Also, Tony had other things to worry about, namely OsCorp. FRIDAY was slowly combing through OsCorp’s databases with a fine-tooth comb, keeping under the radar from Osborn’s techs. Tony was impressed that the man had hired a competent cybersecurity team, and one that wasn’t from SI. It just made him a lot more suspicious as to what OsCorp was doing.

He also didn’t like the fact that FRIDAY had yet to turn up anything about Mary and all the secret projects she supposedly worked on.

 

(“What the hell do you mean, _you gave our son super powers?_ ” Tony demanded.

“Tony, you know the military wants another super soldier,” Mary said, lifting her hand to look at him. “Your father helped create one, and one of your friends was working on a project for the Army. This was OsCorp’s version of a super soldier.”

“They made Peter into a weapon?” Tony began to pace, running a hand over his face.

“Accidentally,” Mary reminded. “They were never going to succeed. I’d made sure of that.” She looked away, her hands clenching the blanket.

“It would only work if it was my DNA,” Mary said softly. “That’s why all the test subjects died, and that’s why Peter lived.”)

 

He fired off a text to May, just to let her know that Peter was sick. She replied with an apology for Peter role-playing as an octopus. Tony answered that with a picture of Peter clinging to him that morning and the words “Too late.”

“How is he?” Pepper texted around noon. Tony took a selfie of himself and Peter, and sent it to her.

“The kid is a god-damn menace,” he replied.

“You love it.” Tony rolled his eyes but didn’t deny it.

Peter woke up half an hour later, and Tony dosed the four-year-old again along with a light lunch. This time Peter didn’t want to go back to his room, instead eyeing the common room.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours?” Tony asked, tilting his head. Peter looked up and pointed at the common room.

“Blanket fort,” he said with a serious tone. “Tony, we make a blanket fort.”

“Why do we want to make a blanket fort?” Tony asked with amused curiosity.

“Because blanket forts are _awesome_.”

Tony could not argue with a four-year-old’s logic. Several chairs and five empty bedrooms later, both father and son were proudly looking over their grand blanket fort. 

“You know, I never made blanket forts with my dad,” Tony said quietly. “This was really fun, kid.” Peter frowned up at Tony then proceeded to grab Tony’s hand, pulling him into the fort. Tony had to admit, it was nice and spacious inside, and gave a start when Peter crawled into his lap and hugged him.

“You made a blanket fort wit’ me, daddy,” Peter said. Tony blinked then smiled, wrapping his arms around Peter and hugging him tight.

“Yeah, guess I did,” he said softly.

God, he was turning into a sap. This was not Tony Stark, this was something up St— _Rogers’_ alley, maybe even Barton’s because there was a kid involved. Tony Stark did _not_ do sappy.

Peter squirmed and Tony let go, watching curiously as Peter ducked out of the blanket fort.

“Peter?”

“Hold on, I get stuff!” Peter shouted out, his feet tapping away. He ran back with Tony’s tablet in one hand and Hedwig in the other, getting Tony to lie down on his stomach before cuddling up.

 

(Pepper came home an hour later to the two cuddled together in their blanket fort, watching ‘Spirited Away’ on Tony’s tablet. Tony glanced over at her and, with a grin, held out a hand for Pepper to join them in. She promptly kicked off her heels and crawled in, smiling when Peter cuddled up against her.

“Hi, mommy,” Peter whispered, and Pepper squeezed him in her arms.

She could get use to this.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People looked up in surprise when Tony and Pepper walked in, the engineer with Peter in his arms. Even the waitstaff faltered a bit, wary of the four-year-old. But then Peter looked up at the room, gave them a cheerful smile and a small wave, and Tony knew the kid had everybody in the palm of his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/7/2018 - FYI the previous chapter was updated was a few changes.

The staff at SI Headquarters all did double-takes when Tony and Pepper strode into the office Monday morning with Peter in Tony’s arms. Peter looked around, shyly waving hello to people and hiding his face against the crook of Tony’s neck. 

“Playing up your adorableness, I see,” Tony joked and Peter gave him a puzzled look. Pepper let out a giggle as they arrived at her office, giving Tony a kiss on the lips and a kiss on Peter’s cheek. Her secretary’s eyes were huge as she looked at the three, and Tony could see the gears turning in the woman’s head as he walked back to the elevator.

“What we doin’ here, Tony?” Peter asked curiously.

“Got to check on the minions,” Tony replied. “Make sure everybody’s doing their job here.” Peter nodded and gasped at the sight of the R&D floor when they left the elevator.

“ _Holy cannoli_ ,” Peter breathed, awe in his voice. “Tony, ‘s Disney World an’ Christmas rolled in one.”

“Close enough, kiddo,” Tony said with a chuckle. “It’s close enough.”

The employees and interns all blinked when Tony walked onto the floor with Peter in his arms. The employees all then shrugged and focused on Tony while the interns continued to gawk. Peter, in all his four-year-old adorableness, frowned at the interns.

“Staring is bad,” Peter admonished the interns. Tony snorted, hearing a few others snicker at that. Peter then turned his attention back to Tony. “I sit here an’ you work?”

“Nah, you can come see what we’re doing, kid,” Tony replied easily. The interns gawked some more while the regular employees just sighed. Peter hesitated, looking between Tony and his minions before slowly nodding. “Right! So! What’s going on, people?”

Quickly dropping off Peter’s bag, Tony followed his minions between the three major projects. Honestly, he was curious to see how they were doing with the clean tech, seeing what they could do to rival Elon Musk in the electric car industry.

Peter perked up on the nanotech project, which Tony figured was due to Mary. Her work on cancer treatment had been a good starting point, and while many medical companies were working hard on treatments for every types of cancer, Tony had his minions start on liver cancer.

 

(“Why liver cancer?” Tony asked curiously. Mary hesitated, her pen pausing.

“My mom, she, um, she died from it,” Mary replied slowly.

“Oh. I’m, uh, I’m sorry,” Tony stammered out and Mary shook her head.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Mary said, reaching out and taking his hand.)

 

“Why na’ biotech, Tony?” Peter asked curiously.

“Ew, squishy science,” Tony replied, wrinkling his nose at Peter and Peter huffed.

“You can still pwogwam genes t’ fix damaged tissue,” Peter said then paused, tilting his head. “Or two-fold treatment – nanotech t’ get rid o’ bad tissue, biotech t’ repair an’ regwo.”

“Huh,” one of the scientists hummed. “That’s actually not a bad idea. We’d need to get some geneticists to help work on this.”

“I’ll steal some from OsCorp,” Tony said, drawing a sharp look from Peter. Tony looked back and raised an eyebrow, and Peter just shook his head.

Hm, maybe not steal scientists from OsCorp? He’ll think about it later.

With the final project, Tony let Peter down, glancing to make sure the four-year-old was safely at one of the empty stations. While teenage Peter would have been happy to see the newest Starktech, four-year-old Peter was starting to get antsy. Tony focused on the newest developmental OS update and the presentation on new ideas for the phones and tablets.

By the time they were done, it was nearing noon, and Tony decided he wanted lunch at The Palm. Shooing the minions away, Tony narrowed his eyes as the sight of one of the interns gaping over Peter’s shoulder.

“Luke! What’s up?” Tony asked, making his way over. Peter looked up at Tony then over at Luke, blinking before his expression changed to worry. Luke’s eyes shot up at Tony, wide with disbelief.

“Holy sh— _crap_ , Mr. Stark, your kid’s a fu— _freakin’_ genius,” Luke said then pointed down. “Is he seriously working on AP Chemistry right now?”

“Chemistry’s fun!” Peter chirped with a shy smile. Tony mentally winced – four-year-olds were not suppose to be working on college-level homework. Oh, Pepper is going to be mad at him.

“What other homework did you bring?” Tony asked slowly and Peter hummed, climbing off the stool to look in his backpack.

“Calc and Comp Sci,” Peter said. “I finish Physics.” Luke’s eyes were about to fall out of his head, and it looked like all the other interns were about to follow suit. “The fun homework, Tony.”

“The _fun_ homework?” Luke muttered dazedly. Peter frowned.

“Okay, Comp Sci na’ fun,” he backtracked, “but Tony wanted me t’ learn pwogwamming.”

A beat.

“ _Pro-gram-ing_ ,” Peter sounded out with a blush. Tony snorted because damn it, that was _fucking adorable_ , and he ruffled Peter’s hair.

“Come on, kid, pack up,” Tony said. “Let’s go bother Pepper about lunch.” Peter nodded and began to put away his homework, and Tony turned to look at the intern. Luke stammered a bit then hurried away, and Tony narrowed his eyes as the way some of the interns were looking at them.

Or, specifically, at Peter.

_Should I be worried?_

“Tony?” Tony looked down to see Peter looking up at him with a worried look. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, kiddo,” he replied with a smile. Peter frowned slightly at that then squeaked when Tony picked him up. “Alright, let’s go find Pepper.”

.

.

.

People looked up in surprise when Tony and Pepper walked in, the engineer with Peter in his arms. Even the waitstaff faltered a bit, wary of the four-year-old. But then Peter looked up at the room, gave them a cheerful smile and a small wave, and Tony knew the kid had everybody in the palm of his hands.

And of course, Peter had absolutely no idea, politely thanking the waiter for his water. The waiter seemed dumbstruck at how polite and verbose the kid was, and Tony could practically hear all the female waitstaff cooing over Peter.

Both Tony and Peter went for burgers and fries, along with an additional mac and cheese for Peter (his spider metabolism still required a lot of food though not as much as teenage Peter) and Pepper went with a chicken Caesar salad.

“Pepper, what’s your schedule like this week?” Tony asked between bites of burger and fries. “We should go to Disneyland. That’s what families do, right? Disneyland?”

“Um.” Peter blinked between the two. “I don’ know? Aqua— _Aqui_ —Marina’s are fun, too.”

“The aquarium, sweetie?” Pepper asked and Peter looked down.

“Big words are hard t’ say now,” Peter said sadly. Tony just ruffled Peter’s hair in response.

“The aquarium sounds fun,” Pepper hummed thoughtfully as she scrolled through her calendar, “and we definitely should go to Disneyland.” Peter perked at that then scrunched his face as though to protest. Tony shared a look with Pepper and they both nodded in agreement.

“Two days, one night at Disneyland,” Tony said, settling it. “You work out the days and time, Pep.” She rolled her eyes at that but didn’t argue.

“An’ what about the.” Peter paused then sounded out the word. “The uh-kwair-ee-uhm. We go?”

“Sure, kid, we can go still go to the aquarium,” Tony said with a smile. “Now eat some veggies, you’re still a growing kid.” He pushed the side-dish towards Peter, and with a little hesitance, Peter tried the vegetable side-dish. He blinked, a smile breaking out before he heartily ate it.

“’S yummy!” he exclaimed, making sure to swallow his mouthful. “’S not bitter at all!”

Tony was positive he heard the other diners coo, and judging by the look on Pepper’s face, she also heard. Again, they shared a look and a smile before Tony reached out to take Pepper’s hand.

“So, one of the interns may have seen Peter working on his Chemistry homework,” Tony started and Pepper sighed.

“There goes our family moment,” she murmured and Tony chuckled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh oh,” Tony muttered as he stared at his phone later that evening. Pepper and Peter both looked up and he motioned at his phone. “Rhodey wants to know who the kid is.”
> 
> “Can he get leave?” Pepper asked after a moment and Tony quickly texted the question, receiving a confirmation. “Have him come to Malibu and explain to him how your son got minified.”

Every social media went insane at the sight of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts with Peter holding both their hands on their trip at the aquarium Tuesday afternoon. There were pictures of them checking out the tropical fishes, watching the feeding of seals and sea lions, and getting ice cream afterwards.

 

(“I see you’ve been having fun,” May teased with a smile that night over Skype. Peter blushed, burying his face against Woodrow the sealion plushie.

“’S lotta fun, May,” Peter said shyly. “I think Tony an’ Peppa had fun?”

“Oh, I’m sure they enjoyed themselves,” May assured him. She wasn’t going to tell him about the pictures the two of them had been sending her all afternoon.

First-time parents were so funny.)

 

“Uh oh,” Tony muttered as he stared at his phone later that evening. Pepper and Peter both looked up and he motioned at his phone. “Rhodey wants to know who the kid is.”

“Can he get leave?” Pepper asked after a moment and Tony quickly texted the question, receiving a confirmation. “Have him come to Malibu and explain to him how your son got minified.”

“I love when you talk nerdy,” Tony said, leering at Pepper as he texted Rhodey. Pepper rolled her eyes while Peter made a face.

“Daddy, ew,” Peter said with a groan, covering his blushing face. “PG, please.” Pepper burst into giggles as Tony huffed and rolled his eyes, the corners of his lips tugging upwards.

.

.

.

Now that four-year-old Peter was known to the world, the public was completely _obsessed_ with him. The media absolutely adored four-year-old Peter, and people demanded answers on who he was. Pepper had to hold a press conference to tell them that they were taking care of Peter for a friend for a couple of weeks. She also asked for privacy, keeping Peter’s name out of the media.

Which led to trending topics such as #starkfam, #ironbaby and, both hilariously and proudly, #irondad.

Really it wouldn’t have been so bad if there hadn’t been for the _god-damn kidnapping attempts_.

The problem for most kidnappers was the fact that Tony Stark was an over-protective son-of-a-bitch. While he tended to have one or two bodyguards, Tony Stark was also Iron Man and he’d trained with both the Black Widow and Captain America so he could hold his own. On the other hand, Pepper was just a civilian and Tony’s fiancée so she was always surrounded by at least five bodyguards at all time.

Peter, known to only be staying with Tony and Pepper for two weeks, was prime kidnapping bait.

Amateur kidnappers would only be focused on Tony and how he wasn’t running around in his suit. The first kidnapping attempt happened during their Disneyland trip, the idiot thinking he had a chance with Tony not in a suit. The attempted snatch-and-grab was quickly ended by Tony via body throw. 

 

(“Huh. What do you know, that worked,” Tony noted casually. The man groaned on the ground as Tony pulled up his watch-gauntlet, aiming at him. “You two okay?”

“We’re fine,” Pepper replied, hugging Peter tightly, “but we’re sort of drawing a crowd.” Tony sighed, repulsor whining up as he gave the man an annoyed glare.)

 

That wasn’t to say Pepper couldn’t hold her own – in fact, the few kidnappers who tried to get to Peter through Pepper discovered stilettos hurt like hell and Tony Stark paid for the best protection. The bodyguards were _really_ earning their pay, and funnily enough, they seem to _really_ enjoy it.

 

(Or it could be because they _really_ liked Peter. He did as he was told, was extremely polite, and worried when one of them got hurt.

“Ouchies, go fly away,” Peter said, putting an Iron-Man band-aid on one of the men after they took down another would-be kidnapper. God damn, they needed to be introduced to Mr. Stark’s friends because Peter was _fucking adorable_.)

 

Now the smarter kidnappers, they were patient and knew to account for Iron Man, with the possibility of War Machine, Vision or both. With Peter’s four-year-old’s attention span, Tony kept a closer eye on the boy. Luckily Peter did have some sense of self-preservation, his spider-sense letting him know when someone wanted to hurt him.

It was just not every kidnapper wanted to hurt him, and that scared the shit out of Tony.

 

(“Are they _trying_ to make us keep Peter in-doors for the rest of the week?!” Tony snarled, running both his hands through his hair. “Totally unacceptable!”

“You just want to show off Peter,” Pepper said calmly as she looked through a document. Peter glanced up at Pepper and Tony before turning back to his English homework. They didn’t need any more people gawking at Peter and his “fun homework” so he was quietly completing his work in Pepper’s office.

“Heck yeah! Do you see how absolutely adorable Peter is?” Peter’s cheeks turned red at that. “Look at him, tell me that’s not cute.”

“Daddy, you’re embarrassing me!” Peter whined, covering his face with his hands and earning a choked giggle from Pepper.)

.

.

.

Rhodey arrived to the house Friday morning. Pepper managed to greet him with a kiss and hug before jumping in the car to get to SI Headquarters.

“Coffee? And you staying here?” Tony asked as he and Rhodey walked towards the kitchen.

“Just for the week, I’ve got a mission coming up,” Rhodey said with a nod. “So? Who’s the—"

“Unca’ Wodey!” Peter yelled, running up to give the man a hug around the leg. Rhodey blinked, blinked again as he slowly connected the face then looked at Tony, his eyes narrowing.

“Tones, what did you do to my favorite nephew?” Peter giggled as Tony raised his hands.

“I did nothing,” Tony defended himself. “Just some – ugh – _magical shenanigans_. _Ugh_ , I said the M word, I feel so dirty now.” Rhodey raised an eyebrow and was about to say something when Peter let out a gasp.

“Wait a mina’, Unca’ Wodey, I have t’ show you somethin’,” Peter said, turning to run back to his room. Tony winced as Peter nearly tripped and brained himself on the floor, but somehow Peter managed to safely get to his room.

“Okay?” Rhodey said slowly then turned his attention back to Tony. “So? Magical shenanigans?”

“Peter got caught up with a guy in weird clothes. He got hit by some sparkly lights, and the next morning he’d been minified,” Tony explained. His lips thinned. “Sparkles’ friend showed up at the Compound, had Peter in his arms. Fucking nearly gave me a heart-attack because _apparently_ Peter doesn’t understand _stranger-danger_.”

Rhodey was about to reply when Peter charged back into the room, wearing his War Machine pajamas.

“Look, look, ‘s War Machine!” Peter crowed, showing off his pajamas. Rhodey’s eyes lit up and he quickly scooped up Peter with a smile.

“Looking sharp, Peter,” Rhodey said admiringly and Peter giggled, giving Rhodey a hug.

 

(Tony wasn’t jealous. No, not jealous at all.

Okay, _maybe_ a little bit. Peter was _his_ kid, damn it.)

 

“Tony, we goin’ t’ go trick-o’-treat wit’ Unca’ Wodey?” Peter asked excitedly, pulling away from Rhodey to look at Tony.

“Trick or treat?” Tony blinked then slowly smiled at Peter. “ _Trick or treat._ Oh, we are going to need to find us some costumes, Petey-pie.”

“Petey-pie?” Rhodey noted with amusement.

 

(“Pepper! Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Pepper!” Tony charged into her office at lunch time, Peter shrieking with laughter from his position on Tony’s back as they slid to a stop. Rhodey followed them in a more sedate pace, shrugging as Pepper looked over at him. “Halloween! We’re going to take Peter trick-or-treating! Isn’t that another rite of passage for parents or something?”

“I’m not going out in a gold bikini,” Pepper replied automatically.

“That’s fine, rebel Leia in the third movie was more my thing,” Tony said. “Oh shi— _oot_ , I should build you a speeder-bike, this would make everything so much ho—”

“PG, please,” Peter quickly piped up. “Co— _Corrupt_ — Don’t say icky things in front o’ kids, Tony.” Rhodey slapped a hand over his mouth as he choked on a laugh.)

 

 

The most successful kidnapping attempt turned out to be in-house. Tony had been right to be suspicious about some of his interns when Peter’s watch suddenly went off-line.

He was also pretty impressed at how well the kidnapping went down, since it took almost a week to plan. SI was good at employing smart people, it was just unfortunate that some of these smart people had no common sense whatsoever.

Tony was still having a mini-panic attack because Peter had been taken from right under his nose. They had just put Peter down for a nap after lunch, and thought he’d be safe in Pepper’s office. None of them had noticed the problem until a few interns didn’t show up, and the ones who did show up had voiced their puzzlement. 

And when Pepper called Tony to ask worriedly if Peter was with him, well, that was when everybody in the room all learned to not get on Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and Col. James Rhodes’ bad side.

 

(“FRIDAY, locate our missing interns,” Tony snarled as he stalked towards Pepper’s office, his employees shooing the interns out of the R&D department. “And let Pepper know that they’re all _fucking fired_.”

“You got it, boss.” Huh. Was it his imagination or did FRIDAY sound angry? “Shall I have Vision come help retrieve Peter?”

Oh, yeah, FRIDAY was mad if she’s offering to get big brother to help.

“Nah, me and Rhodey got this. Just remind me to put in bio-scanners the next time we put Peter down for a nap, and to ruin those three interns’ lives forever.”)

 

Luke had distracted Pepper’s secretary while his two friends drugged Peter and took him, deactivating his watch and hiding him in a gym bag. They even walked out right the front door with no one realizing it, which took some balls. 

It was just unlucky for the interns-turned-kidnappers to have grabbed a minified Spider-Man. An hour later Peter’s watch popped back on-line with KAREN announcing their location.

 

(“Is Peter alright?” Tony asked as he and Rhodey flew towards the location.

“The sedative they gave Peter did not react well to his physiology,” KAREN reported. “Peter would like to apologize for getting his shirt dirty.”

“Of course he’s going to apologize,” Rhodey said lightly though Tony could tell the man was angry.)

 

The three interns were quickly found and apprehended at an abandoned apartment building via blaster to the faces, and with Rhodey glaring down menacingly at them in his War Machine suit, Tony went looking for Peter.

He found Peter on the fourth floor of the building, looking pale and miserable. He had taken his shirt off and Tony scowled as he realized when KAREN said Peter had gotten his shirt dirty, she meant he had thrown up all over it.

“’M sorry,” Peter said with a sniffle, rubbing his teary eyes as he toddled his way over to Tony, raising his arms up towards Tony. “’M so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, kid. Are you okay?” Tony asked, picking Peter up. Peter didn’t reply, merely rubbed his eyes and set his head down against the crook of Tony’s neck. “Okay, okay, you’re going to be fine, Petey-pie. I’ve got you, we’re going to go home.”

“Afta’ we get the bad guys?” Peter murmured into Tony’s neck.

“We already got the bad guys, Peter. Uncle Rhodey’s going to take care of them,” Tony said. “You are going home and we are going to give you a check-up.” Peter sniffled but nodded.

 

(“How did you get away, kid?” Rhodey asked when he came back to the penthouse later that night. Peter was wrapped up in a blanket, curled up in Pepper’s lap with Hedwig in his arms. The kid peeked over at Rhodey and shrugged.

“I woke up early an’ they weren’t lookin’,” Peter said slowly. “So I snuck out an’ climbed up the wall t’ hide. I hear them freakin’ out when I turn on m’ watch an’ then they couldn’t find me. An’ then I threw up.” He whispered the last few words, his ears turning red as he hid his face against Hedwig.

“So those boys?” Tony asked darkly and Rhodey chuckled.

“Well, that’s up to you and Pepper on how badly you want their lives to crash and burn.” Tony and Pepper exchanged a look and smiled.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Whoa, wait, why are you assuming that I’d go as Darth Vader?” Tony interrupted with a frown.
> 
> “Do I need to list how much you and Darth Vader have in common?” Pepper giggled and Peter failed to stifle a snicker as Tony glared at them.
> 
> “You’re ganging up on me again,” he growled half-heartedly. “I’m Han Solo, shut up Rhodey.”

Peter slept with Tony and Pepper that night, mostly due to the two adults being terrified for his safety. It turned out to be a good idea when Peter woke up in tears, curling up in Tony’s arms. Tony rubbed Peter’s back as Pepper kissed Peter’s head, both whispering to him that he was safe.

“’M sorry,” Peter hiccupped, burying his face against Tony’s chest. “’M sorry fo’ wakin’ you up.”

“It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay,” Pepper reassured him, running her hand through his hair. “You’re safe with us, Peter.”

By the time Peter managed to fall asleep, Tony had decided to completely destroy Peter’s kidnappers’ lives, both present and future.

 

(“This might make another group of super-villains,” Pepper whispered, a little bit of doubt in her eyes.

“And Rhodey, Vision and I will take care of them. Legally and with extreme prejudice,” Tony replied with a smile. Pepper squinted at him then sighed – forget unintentionally creating super-villain groups, Tony just needed an excuse to murder the kids and get away with it.

Maybe she could get Rhodey and Happy to help her just convince Tony to never let the kids enter the tech industry.

Oh boy.)

 

Pepper took the afternoon off, and along with Rhodey, went with Tony and Peter to go costume shopping. Tony and Pepper argued over what Leia costume she should wear – they both agreed on not the bikini look – until Peter pointed out that Pepper could be Jyn Erso.

“An’ Unca’ Wodey is Lando?” Peter asked.

“I was thinking Bobba Fett,” Rhodey replied, “though if Tony decides to go as Darth Vader, I may go as Lando.”

“Whoa, wait, why are you assuming that I’d go as Darth Vader?” Tony interrupted with a frown.

“Do I need to list how much you and Darth Vader have in common?” Pepper giggled and Peter failed to stifle a snicker as Tony glared at them.

“You’re ganging up on me again,” he growled half-heartedly. “I’m Han Solo, shut up Rhodey.”

In the end, Rhodey decided to go as Mace Windu because “someone has to be the voice of good for young Luke since you two are going as corrupting con-artists.” That got a giggle from Peter, a snort from Tony and an innocent look from Pepper.

“Where should we go trick-or-treating?” Pepper asked over coffee, tea and crepes. She absently reached over to wipe the cream from Peter’s cheek as he ate his banana-Nutella crepe—

 

(“No stwabewwy,” Peter said to the girl at the counter. “Peppa’s allergic.”

“You can have strawberries, sweetie,” Pepper said, looking down at Peter and he shook his head.

“Can’t share wit’ you if has stwabewwy,” he replied. Pepper was pretty sure she heard the girl at the counter just quietly squeal at how _fucking adorable_ Peter was.)

 

—and Tony couldn’t help but watch the scene fondly. “Tony?”

“Hey, Earth to Irondad,” Rhodey said in amusement. “I don’t know about you, but this isn’t Queens and we have no idea where’s a good, safe location to go trick-or-treating with the kid.”

“FRIDAY compiled a list,” Tony said with a shrug. “Pretty safe, lots of kids, definitely the good candies. I’ve got FRIDAY running safety protocols and possible evac points.” Rhodey snorted at that as Pepper let out a huff and rolled her eyes. Peter just took another bite of his crepe, giving them a thoughtful look.

“Maybe the busiest?” Peter asked. “’S more fun an’ we see kids in costume.”

“It does sound like fun, and it might be a good for your image,” Pepper noted.

“Oh, good for my image? Really?”

“Tony Stark, the family man,” Rhodey said, smiling at that. “Now if you two would finally put down a wedding date.” Tony and Pepper exchanged a look over Peter’s head before Pepper’s attention went back to Peter who offered her another bite of crepe while Tony glared at Rhodey.

.

.

.

Peter slept with them again that night though thankfully he didn’t wake up in tears. Tony did wake up in a panic, sure that Peter was still gone, and in the hands of those _fucking idiot interns_ —

“Daddy?” Tony’s breath hitched, looking down to see Peter rubbing his eyes sleepily, giving Tony a worried look. “Daddy, ‘s okay, we all safe.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re all safe,” Tony murmured after a moment, his heart still beating a mile a minute. Peter snuggled up against Tony, a hand gripping his shirt and Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, listening as his son slowly dropped back to sleep.

Everything was fine. Peter was safe and sound, sleeping in his arms.

Everything was fine.

.

.

.

Pepper and Rhodey must have noticed Tony cuddling Peter a little more than usual Sunday morning. Peter seemed to notice that Tony needed it and cuddled back, though he gave the two a worried look. It was enough that Pepper kicked the two out of the house.

“Go have some father-son bonding,” she ordered with a smile. “There’s a Halloween costume parade going on at the Santa Monica pier, and you can take Peter trick-or-treating there.”

“Uh, we’re not picking up the costumes until tomorrow morning, Pep,” Tony said slowly.

“That’s why I had FRIDAY help me get a Spider-Man costume for Peter,” Pepper replied, pulling out the miniature costume. “It’s just fabric, sweetie, so keep your watch on.”

“Okay, Peppa.” Pepper smiled, ruffling Peter’s hair.

“It doesn’t start until 3pm but I’m sure you two can figure out what to do in the mean-time,” Pepper continued, looking up at Tony.

Actually, that was a good question – what does one do with a 4-year-old on a Sunday morning? Apparently in Peter’s case, the beach.

“’S diff’went from New York,” Peter said as he looked out at the ocean, the water lapping at his feet. “’S warmer an’ prettier an’ not smelly.”

“Yeah, well, pollution,” Tony replied with a shrug. A thoughtful look crossed Peter’s face and he looked up at Tony.

“Can nano-tech clean the ocean?” That started a long conversation between the two that ended in a restaurant in Santa Monica, notes written between them on how they would program the nanites to seek out and destroy the garbage.

“An’ that’s where bio-chem comes in!” Peter said excitedly. “We c’n dissolve object safely, dependin’ on what it is. Like dissolvin’ pwastic ‘s diffwent fwom dissolvin’ stywafoam.”

“There’s your high school science project,” Tony said, pen tapping against the book as he smiled at Peter. “Definite shoo-in for MIT, I can’t wait to see this in action.” Peter blushed and drank his milkshake, and Tony reached over to ruffle his hair.

There must have been some quiet squealing in the back, judging by Peter’s sudden confused expression as he looked in that direction.

“Come on, kid, it’s almost three,” Tony said, getting up. “Let’s get you in costume.”

 

(Honestly Tony hadn’t planned to use the Iron Man armor when he and Peter went to the pier for the parade and trick-or-treating. He had planned to just go as Tony Stark, taking his kid out for some fun, and _not deal with anything criminal._

“Seriously? At a kid’s parade and all?” Tony demanded, more than a little annoyed at the robbers. The robbers all squirmed in fear at the sound of Tony’s repulsor whining. “Seriously, you people are dumb. If you want to jack a place, go to the bank. It’s not like they’re even opened.”

“Tony.” A knock on his leg and he looked down to see mini-Spider-man looking up at him, his bag half-full of candies. “Don’ give ‘em ideas.”)

\------------------------------

The group ended up trick-or-treating in Hollywood, and Vision joined them on the foray much to Tony’s amusement.

 

(“Sir, what happened to Peter?” Vision asked as he looked down at the four-year-old hugging his leg in greeting. Peter looked up at him with a huge grin.

“Um.” Tony exchanged a look with Pepper before his attention turned back to Peter literally climbing up Vision. “Huh. That’s, uh. Huh.”

“Peter, stop that,” Pepper scolded. “That’s rude to your brother.” Vision raised an eyebrow while Peter looked properly chastised and jumped back down onto the floor.)

 

It was strange to see Vision in a human form, dressed in a dark sweater and jeans as he walked with them, looking on curiously at all the children. Peter was incredibly excited, cheerfully joining a group of kids and parents for a few houses, then flitting over to another group.

“You okay, platypus?” Tony asked as they followed the current group. “It’s a lot of walking.”

“I’ll be fine,” Rhodey replied, patting Tony’s shoulder reassuringly. “Peter’s got tiny legs so I don’t have to walk so fast. Haven’t tried the hills yet, but we’ll see.”

Peter had been right to go to the busiest place for trick-or-treating. Tony had been okay with kids who could actually talk and create things, but there was something to be said about seeing babies dressed up as strawberries or pumpkins.

He would deny it to the death, but the baby dressed up as Iron Man was his favorite.

“Just so you know, I will be having FRIDAY wipe out all evidence of this,” Tony said with a glare as baby Iron-Man cooed and cuddled in his arms. Both Rhodey and Peter were out-right grinning at him while Vision looked amused as Pepper and baby Iron-Man’s parents took pictures on their phone.

“No, you won’t,” Pepper replied with a smile.

“…no, I won’t,” Tony grumbled. Baby Iron-Man cooed.

 

(The pictures of them dressed up, interacting with parents and kids, and Peter trick-or-treating exploded on social media. There was a giant boost in both SI and Disney stocks the next day, and Pepper was in a very good mood.

“Peter, has anyone told you you’re a lucky charm?” Pepper asked happily, kissing the top of Peter’s head. Peter blinked then heaved a sigh.

“I have Parker Luck™,” Peter replied sadly. “Somethin’ bad gonna happen t’ me now, mommy.”

An hour later someone tried to kidnap Peter. They were met with a stiletto to the foot, a repulsor blast to the face, and six angry armed men.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was something bittersweet in putting a four-year-old Peter to bed at night, and when a teenage Peter came stumbling out of his room in the morning. He flopped onto the stool, blinking blearily at Tony and Pepper for a moment before breaking into a smile.
> 
> “Back to normal,” Peter said as he accepted a glass of orange juice from Tony.
> 
> “Back to normal,” Tony affirmed. There must have been something in his voice because Peter hesitated for a moment, his eyes shifting between Tony and Pepper.

**Wednesday, November 1, 2017**

“You’ll be back for Thanksgiving?” Tony asked as he helped Rhodey with his bags. Rhodey nodded as he followed after Tony, Peter on his back.

“Barring anything stupid happening, I’ll see you at the Compound,” Rhodey replied, bending to let Peter down. Peter giggled and handed a bag to Rhodey.

“Snacks!” Peter announced and Rhodey raised an eyebrow, looking in the bag.

“Oh yeah, the best kind,” Rhodey agreed with a grin and Tony peeked over. Apparently, Peter’s snacks were a good chunk of his Halloween candies. “Thanks, kiddo.”

“Be safe, Unca’ Wodey.” He gave Rhodey a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Rhodey ruffled his hair before Peter scampered back to the kitchen.

“Not going to lie, but I’m going to miss this when he turns back to normal,” Rhodey said with a soft smile.

“Yeah.” Tony smiled too, looking over to see Peter babbling about something to Pepper. “Honestly, I think me and Pep are going to miss this too.”

And it was true – for the last two weeks, they had fun as a family. Granted it wasn’t like Peter was an actual four-year-old, but he acted so much like one that Tony forgot Peter was in reality a sixteen-year-old.

“By the way, platypus, I was wondering if you can help me on a special project,” Tony said, looking back at Rhodey. The colonel paused, squinting at Tony suspiciously. “I want to know what contracts OsCorp’s got with the military.”

“OsCorp?” Rhodey frowned at that. “Well, for one, they don’t have a contract with the Air Force. Pretty sure they have one with the Army, maybe the Navy but for what I—wait. Why do you want to know about OsCorp?”

“Well.” Tony scratched his cheek and glanced back at Peter. “Mary said she worked on a few projects for OsCorp, and one of those projects involved spiders.” Rhodey’s expression tightened, looking over at Peter.

“Shit, they’re doing _genetic experiments?_ ” Rhodey hissed.

“FRIDAY hasn’t found anything yet in their database, but only because I have her running silent,” Tony said then grimaced. “Much as I like to brute force this, I want to know what else they’ve done, and possibly what else they’re doing right now.”

“Right, I’ll see what I can dig up.” Tony smiled and patted Rhodey on the shoulder.

“You’re the best.”

“Of course I am.” Tony punched Rhodey on the shoulder, scowling at his friend’s smug smile. “Now go have fun with your kid before he turns back into a teenager and isn’t cuddly anymore.”

“This is Peter we’re talking about. He’s always cuddly.”

“True, but not in an armful-huggable kind of way.” Tony paused at that.

“Shit,” he muttered. Rhodey laughed.

.

.

Peter seemed to know that his time as a four-year-old was coming to an end soon, so he was extra snuggly to everybody that day. Vision seemed both bemused and fond of Peter cuddling up to him, and of course Pepper too a picture of them.

 

(“Tony, get in the picture,” Pepper said with a smirk and Tony narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why?” he asked, drawing out the question.

“I need to get a picture of a father and his two sons.” Tony glared at her, but still got in for a family picture. Peter raised his arms, and Tony took him from Vision, smiling as Peter cuddled up for the shot.)

 

They went out for a picnic lunch. Of course, they all ignored the people taking pictures of them with their cellphones, and Tony’s pretty sure that Vision was messing with the phones of some of their more hard-core fans.

What a good son.

Peter fell asleep, curled up against Tony’s side after lunch, and Tony placed his blazer over him – even if it was a warm November afternoon in California he didn’t want Peter to get sick again. Tony let himself take it easy, his head in Pepper’s lap. It had been a long time since he wasn’t on the move, where lives weren’t on the line or a deadline needed to be met.

It was surprisingly nice.

“Take her out for a picnic, Vis,” Tony said quietly, one hand gently running through Peter’s hair as the other hand thumbed his cellphone. “I think she’ll like it.” Vision, who had been cleaning up, went still, and Tony turned his head slightly to look at the android.

“Are you sure, Sir?” Vision asked, blinking at Tony.

“Positive,” Tony replied. “You can’t fu—erm, screw up sandwiches, and there’s something to be said with having a lap pillow.” Pepper snorted at that, looking away from her tablet and down at Tony with a fond smile.

“Don’t forget flowers,” she added. “Roses are lovely and always acceptable.” Vision hummed thoughtfully.

.

.

.

**Thursday, November 2, 2017**

There was something bittersweet in putting a four-year-old Peter to bed at night, and when a teenage Peter came stumbling out of his room in the morning. He flopped onto the stool, blinking blearily at Tony and Pepper for a moment before breaking into a smile.

“Back to normal,” Peter said as he accepted a glass of orange juice from Tony.

“Back to normal,” Tony affirmed. There must have been something in his voice because Peter hesitated for a moment, his eyes shifting between Tony and Pepper.

“You both had fun. When I was a kid,” Peter said, sounding surprised and pleased. “I-I didn’t. I thought I would, you know, be really annoying. Or something.”

“You were anything but annoying,” Pepper replied, moving over to kiss the crown of Peter’s head. Peter smiled shyly at that, a hand reaching up to rub his head as his cheeks colored. “Tony really loved his time with mini-you.”

“Hey,” Tony protested without heat because it was true. Peter ducked his head and Tony could see Peter’s ears now turning red. “So. We’re leaving Saturday, why not, I don’t know, have some fun together for the next two days?” Peter looked up with wide eyes, his body vibrating slightly with excitement then blinked.

“Uh, wait, how are you going to explain the sudden disappearance of mini-me?” he asked.

“Oh. Right. Uh,” Tony started.

“Family came by to pick mini-you up late last night,” Pepper interrupted. “The media will be very sad, but I think they’ll deal.”

“Sure the guards are going to be sad,” Tony muttered. Pepper snickered while Peter blinked in confusion. “Anyway. Where do you want to go, now that you’re not a munchkin?”

Peter gave a thoughtful hum before his expression turned mischievous.

“Can we do a quick tour of CalTech?”

“Cal—no. _No._ Absolutely _not_ ,” Tony vehemently objected as Pepper started to laugh. “How dare you—I cannot believe—Out of my will!”

“No, he’s not,” Pepper said. “Peter, I’ll take you to tour CalTech. Tony, you can stay safe in the office and do all the paperwork that should have been done weeks ago.” Tony grimaced as Peter covered his mouth, shoulders shaking with mirth.

“You will hate it,” Tony growled. “CalTech is terrible. MIT is clearly superior in every way.”

“Except for the weather,” Peter piped up.

“Seriously? _Seriously?_ You want to go to CalTech because of the _weather?_ You are a terrible son. Terrible! Rhodey will be upset.”

“I’d like to think Uncle Rhodey would support me.”

“If it’s CalTech, never in a million years,” Tony replied, moving over to put Peter into a headlock and giving him a noogie. Peter let out a squawk, but didn’t break out of the headlock, laughing instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't think of a better way to end this. Was literally agonizing over it before I decided to just leave it like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a passing Dr. Strange, nothing to see here.


End file.
